What It Is Not Anymore
by SkyBright
Summary: HeadCanon Inspired: At Gotham Academy, Artemis would talk about her family as if they were happy and whole. She would frequently tell stories to Barbara and Bette about her sister and sometimes even her father of when she was younger. It killed Dick to hear these stories and to hear how much Artemis wished her family was still together.


"So Artemis, what's your family like?"

Artemis—who had been happily eating her lunch and listening to Barbara argue with her tag-along friend Dick Grayson—froze at the question. She turned to Bette, who was sitting next to her patiently awaiting an answer.

"Oh, um….my family?" Artemis asked, mind working overtime. _Can't exactly share the villain connection_, Artemis reminded herself. _I can only imagine how that would go._

"Artemis, didn't you say you lived with your mom?"

Relieved at the distraction, Artemis turned to Barbara who had joined the conversation at the expense of a disgruntled Dick. "Yeah, I did," Artemis smiled. A satisfied Barbara smiled back, while Dick had stopped his pouting and leaned forward.

"What about your dad?" Dick asked. "Is he in the picture?"

Artemis nervously cleared her throat. "Somewhat."

"What do you mean?"

"He…travels with my older sister."

While Barbara and Bette looked puzzled at the response, Dick met Artemis' eyes with determination. "Are your parents divorced?"

"What's with you and the multitude of questions Dick?" Artemis snapped. "You've never taken this much of an interest in me before. Why now?"

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Artemis glanced at a concerned Bette. "I'm sorry Artemis, I was the one who started this conversation," Bette apologized softly. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to share."

Artemis sighed and shrugged Bette's hand off her shoulder, murmuring, "No, it's fine." She could feel her temper simmering down and she reigned in control over her emotions again. _I can do this._

"My family is…complicated. But it's not as if my dad or sister doesn't love my mom and me." _Or they did at least, years ago when we were all together. Years before Deathstroke, that's for sure._

"There was this one time my dad took the whole family on a fishing trip," Artemis reflected to her friends, trying to think of happier days. "I was probably seven at the time. It was so stupid, 'cause my dad didn't know how to operate the new boat he bought, my mom shrieked at every worm she tried to place on her hook, and my sister consistently tried to push me into the river—unsuccessfully of course, and it wasn't like I didn't try to do it to her.

"Anyway, as all of this chaos is going on, the boat runs out of fuel. We're stranded in the middle of this river having no idea where we are since nobody thought to pack a map, let alone extra fuel. Us girls were freaking out, worried about how long we had to spend on that boat. But do you know what my dad did? He went to the cooler, took out a root beer, plopped himself down on the deck and started singing '99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall'.

"It was so strange, 'cause he was singing it with a deadpan face and taking sips of his root beer every once in a while. My mom, sister, and I must have stared at him open-mouthed for at least ten minutes. By the time my dad reached the seventy-first bottle in the song, he chucked his half-drunk root beer into the river, stood up and took my mother's hand. As he proceeded with the song, he started dancing with my mom, spinning her up and down the deck. At that point, my dad failed trying to keep up the dead pan face and soon broke into a wild smile. He was belting the song so loud and was over-exaggerating his dance movements so much he soon had my mother crying in laughter. My sister and I finally joined in, giggling and clapping to the beat.

"And that's how some old fisherman found us," Artemis smiled despite herself. "We must've been quite the sight. He hooked his boat to ours and brought us to a nearby dock. We had to walk back to a nearby bus station to get home, seeing as we still didn't know where we were to walk back to our car. But you know what? It didn't matter, cause we finished the song, singing and dancing our way to that bus station." _And that was the day I thought for sure my family would never fall apart._

Artemis looked to Barbara and Bette to find them with wide-eyes and open mouths. Artemis found no surprise in that; the story was the most she shared about her family—her life—since being friends with them. Yet, when Artemis looked at Dick, she found…remorse, in his usual playful gaze.

"That was some family story Artemis," Barbara finally sputtered out.

Artemis gave a small smile and replied "I know." She continued with her meal, and her three classmates followed suit. The bell rang soon after, causing the four students to depart for their classes.

As Artemis waved goodbye to Barbara and Bette, she felt a tug at her sleeve. She turned to see Dick standing, staring at her with the same solemn expression he had when she finished her story. "Yes?"

Rubbing his neck, Dick muttered "Thanks."

"For what?" Artemis asked, confused.

"Thanks for telling us something about your family," Dick replied. "I can't…I can't imagine it was easy for you. But I can tell you love them a lot."

"..I do." _And it's the truth._

"Well…see you around Artemis."

"Yeah…see you around Dick"

With that, Dick turned and headed down the hallway, leaving Artemis to herself. Biting her lip, Artemis took a deep breath and finally headed to her class. _It's useless to think of something so long ago anyway,_Artemis thought, as her footsteps echoed down the hallway.


End file.
